Suspense Stories

Midnight is My Time by Mike Dellosso

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If you’ve been following my blog for any length of time, you know that I am a Mike Dellosso fan. I’ve written a review of his book, Centralia, and some of his books have been listed in my old Top Ten Tuesday posts. I have also done an author interview with him here on my blog.

So I was excited to be able to read his latest release, Midnight is My Time. I read it in two evenings because it grabbed my attention right at the start and held my attention until the very end. Midnight is My Time is filled with action and suspense, and yes, some violence. There is a mystery that also runs through the book in regards to the two main characters, Andy and Missy — are they freaks or something special?

Ten years after an Apocalyptic event, Andy and Missy meet and decide to travel together. They travel from the southeastern United States to the northeastern United States. But why are they being pursued and threatened? What is their purpose? Will they reach their destination in one piece?

Mike Dellosso’s descriptions paint a vivid picture of people and places. The action scenes are intense and keep the pace of the story moving, just as you catch your breath, another crisis wrenches your breath away again.

This book was an easy read, and as I mentioned above, it was a real page-turner that kept me on the edge of my seat. Mike Dellosso has produced another great read and I highly recommend it.

Fear is Louder than Words by Linda S. Glaz

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Fear Is Louder Than Words: Her stalker taught her fear. Her suspicions taught her terror. by [Glaz, Linda S.]

Fear is Louder than Words by suspense novelist, Linda S. Glaz kept me turning pages until my eyes refused to stay open one more second. Rochelle Cassidy, a radio talk show host, who wants to do what she can to make the world a better place soon ends up constantly looking over her shoulder as her celebrity status draws attention from an angry listener who wants her dead.

Then Ed McGrath, a star hockey player who is content living the all-star, playboy athlete life until he rescues Rochelle in a parking garage after she is attacked.

Rochelle also gets involved with a maniacal doctor when she interviews him and others from his clinic in the interest of doing a piece on the doctor’s clinic on her radio show. He appears to be a perfect doctor helping couples achieve their dream children, but something keeps niggling at Rochelle’s mind. Then when something tragic happens to one of the mothers and another shares her tale of terror to Rochelle, her suspicions reach an all-time high.

I really enjoyed this novel by Ms. Glaz. The pages are filled with suspense, intrigue, and romance. There aren’t as many characters in the line-up as there are in Ms. Glaz’s novel, Blow Out the Candles and Say Goodbye, so I found it much easier to keep everyone straight and to follow the entire story line. I look forward to more books from Linda S. Glaz in the future.

Blow Out the Candles and Say Goodbye by Linda S. Glaz

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Blow Out the Candles and Say Goodbye by Linda Glaz is a fast-paced thriller that kept me turning pages as little girls invited to birthday party sleepovers would disappear. One young woman, Brandy, whose sister was one such girl ten years ago, refused to give up trying to find out what happened to her sister.

Brandy moves to a new location and starts a new job. Then a little girl’s birthday party sleepover sets Brandy’s heart pounding as memories flood her mind. Then Brandy is contacted by a woman who may have information about Brandy’s sister, but Brandy never gets to talk to that woman.

As tension mounts, many characters are introduced at a fairly quick pace making it a bit difficult to keep track of who’s who. However, the main characters are clear and following them to find Brandy’s sister is a must.

Linda Glaz knows how to spin a suspenseful yarn, and she even threw in a very unexpected twist that I never saw coming. I really enjoyed this story and highly recommend it to anyone who likes a good thriller and doesn’t mind losing some sleep to get to the end.

The Captain Takes a Wife by Doris Durbin

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I received a free copy of The Captain Takes a Wife by Doris Durbin for my honest review for BookLook Blogger.

The war is over and Captain Harry Richardson is looking forward to starting a new life in a small town as a pastor. He also hopes to find a wife sometime soon. His journey to the little mountain town turns quite interesting when he meets Sarah Franklin and realizes she’s in some kind of trouble.

She begs him for his help, and he cannot refuse. After all, she’s quite an attractive woman. So, as he tries to help her during the journey, they seem to meet trouble around every corner.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It was suspenseful and romantic. There were unexpected twists, and just when I thought I knew who the head bad guy was, I found out I didn’t.

The plot, character development and dialogue all worked well to move the story forward without slowing down to much or leaving me too breathless for too long. There were some sweet, tender moments to balance out the threats and suspense, yet the pace  didn’t waiver.

Descriptions were vivid and painted pictures in my mind. There was even some humor at places. The  only thing I question is the setting. The place was well described and explained, but the story is to be taking place in 1875, and yet, I felt like I was in present day more often than 1875. That didn’t hinder my interest or the fact that I liked the book, but it did cross my mind a few times.

I’ve been reading books published by West Bow Press for quite a while and often find them lacking in many areas, so it was refreshing and delightful to read a book published by West Bow Press that I felt was quality fiction. So kudos to Doris Durbin for writing a book of good quality that I can honestly say I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys a romantic suspense story.

Mermaid Moon by Colleen Coble

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I received a free copy of this eBook to write a review (my personal opinion) for BookLook Blogger.

This is the first romantic suspense novel I have read by Colleen Coble.  I read her “Journey of the Heart” series last year and thoroughly enjoyed it.  You can read my reviews of each of those by searching for “Book Reviews” under Categories on the right sidebar of this blog.  They were western romance stories.  They had a bit of suspense, but not like Mermaid Moon.

Mermaid Moon is a Sunset Cove novel by Colleen Coble.  I have not read Inn at Ocean’s Edge which is the first book of this series.  But that is one thing I really like about Ms. Coble’s writing.  Even when she writes a series, you can read them out of order, or read one from the series and not the rest, and because of the information she includes in each book of the series, you do not feel lost or confused about the characters or the plot line.

Mallory Davis left her home on Mermaid Point in Maine years ago and never looked back. But when she receives a mysterious call from her father and later is informed of his death, she heads back to Mermaid Point immediately.

She suspects that her father was murdered, and a Downeast Maine game warden, Kevin O’Connor, confirms her suspicions.  Mallory doesn’t want to spend too much time with Kevin, but he wants to help her find out what happened to her father.  Mallory broke Kevin’s heart when she left Maine 15 years ago, and the history between them is something she believes cannot be repaired.

Mallory’s friend and neighbor, Carol brings her daughter, Haylie to Mermaid Point much sooner than planned and informs Mallory that someone showed up at her house in Bangor, Maine looking for her; someone who seemed quite threatening.

As the story continues, more questions arise and more suspicious characters emerge.  Whenever I thought I knew who was guilty, something else would show me I was wrong.  The story kept me guessing almost to the end.

Colleen Coble did a great job creating deep characters that made me care for them and cheer for them right for the start.  The plot line was suspenseful and kept me guessing.   The plot line kept me turning pages.  I look forward to reading more romantic suspense by Colleen Coble.

I recommend this book to all Colleen Coble fans, to anyone who enjoys a real page turner, to anyone who enjoys romantic suspense, and to anyone who likes a story with rich characters and a fast-moving plot line.

 

 

A Heart’s Betrayal by Colleen Coble

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I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through the BookLook Blogger program, in exchange for my honest book review.

A Heart’s Betrayal by Colleen Coble is Book Four in the “Journey of the Heart” series.  Each of these books is a quick, easy read.  Each contains romance and suspense.  In A Heart’s Betrayal, we get to know more about Emmie, the sister of Ben Croftner, who was a thorn in Rand Campbell’s side.

Emmie learns some shocking news about her husband of only three months, after he is killed in an accident; news that will negatively affect her life in many ways if she remains in Wabash, Indiana.  She has no family near to help her in any way, so she remembers that someone in town mentioned that Sarah Campbell was lonely for some woman friends, as she was living at a military fort in the west with her husband, Rand Campbell.  So, Emmie decides to go west.

When Emmie reaches the fort, she is not impressed with the surroundings, although she does think that men in uniform are attractive.  However, she has decided that she will never trust another man and wants nothing to do with one.  But then she meets Isaac Liddle, and her resolves starts to waiver.

Then she is hit by more news that she sees as negative for her situation — she’s pregnant!

I really enjoyed this story.  I finished reading it in about two or three hours.  I couldn’t put it down.  I just felt so bad for Emmie and all that she is going through in this story.  I couldn’t wait to find out how things will work out for her.  Then I reached the end of the book and found that Colleen Coble left me hanging again!  This was the norm when these books were first published — writers would end a book in a series in a cliff hanger, to assure that his/her readers would not be able to resist the next one in the series when it came out.  It’s definitely effective for a writer, who can pull it off well, and Colleen Coble is one of those writers.

If you haven’t read any of the “Journey of the Heart” series, I highly recommend it.  If you have been reading it, I highly recommend you read A Heart’s Betrayal, even though, A Heart’s Danger – Book Three seemed to have a good ending.  You won’t want to miss Emmie’s story.  It’s just as good as Sarah’s.

I recommend this book to anyone who has read the first three books in the “Journey of the Heart” series.  I recommend this book even if you haven’t read the first three books, as this is about a new main character, even though many characters from the first three books are a part of the story.  I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a book that is easy to read and doesn’t take a lot of time to finish reading, as well as anyone who enjoys stories of the old West, and stories of romance and suspense.

Centralia by Mike Dellosso

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Picture

Things are not what they seem.

Peter Ryan can’t find his wife and daughter.  Everyone keeps telling him they died, but he doesn’t believe them.  He does, however, have memories of their funeral.  When his house is invaded, he discovers that he has survival skills he was not aware he had.  He doesn’t understand what is going on, and do the disconnected memories have anything to do with what’s happening?  And, what about the nightmare he has almost every night?  Is it significant?  Centralia is a fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat suspense story where “things are not what they seem”.

This story is very well-written and the characters, down to the very minor characters who only appear in one chapter, are very well-developed.  One of the best minor characters in the book is Ronnie.  He’s only in one chapter, but Mike gave me so much information about Ronnie that I immediately cared about this character.  I would like to see Mike continue Ronnie’s story in another book sometime.

The story grabbed my attention right from the start and held it in a strong grip right up until the very end.  Mike Dellosso has a talent for giving great descriptions of people and settings without making it too wordy or slowing the action and suspense down.  The story is action-packed, suspenseful and frightening.

I’ve been a Mike Dellosso fan for a year now, and though I haven’t yet read all of his books, I think this could be his best work yet.  I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes to be kept up late because you just can’t put this book down; to anyone who loves a story packed with action and suspense, you won’t want to miss this one.

A Heart’s Danger by Colleen Coble

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A Heart’s Danger, Book three in the “Journey of the Heart” series by Colleen Coble finds Sarah wanting to move on with her life at Fort Laramie.  Christmas is coming and relations with the Sioux have turned colder.

Will Rand really go through with the wedding to his fiancee, or will he declare his love for Sarah once and for all?

I received this book for Free from BookLook Bloggers to write a review.

In A Heart’s Danger, Sarah learns how difficult life with the Sioux can be, as well as how painful it is to watch what happens to the Sioux while more white men and women move into their territory.  Another soldier also begins to express interest in Sarah, and she wonders if she could ever learn to love him.

Sarah finds herself in danger several times throughout this story, sometimes because Ben Croftner is a sore loser and a cruel, evil man, and sometimes because she takes risks she shouldn’t take.

A Heart’s Danger is filled with danger, excitement and suspense.  It is well written and is, in my opinion, the best book in the series so far.  As the first two in the series ended with a definite cliff hanger, A Heart’s Danger seems to have resolved enough issues to have a good, solid ending.  However, it is not the end.  There are three more books coming, and though the first two ended with cliff hangers, this one has me more curious and intrigued, wondering what Ms. Coble could possibly do in the next book.  I can’t wait to find out.

I would highly recommend this book to women who love a good romance story filled with danger, excitement and suspense.  If you like a book you can’t put down, this book is for you.  I read this book in one sitting.  I just couldn’t stop reading until I knew how it ended.

One-Day Super Saturday Writers’ Conference

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A writers’ conference is a great place to learn more about writing techniques and marketing and publishing opportunities and possibilities.  It is also a great place to meet other writers and make connections and form bonds, which is a wonderful thing since writing is a lonely business.  You can make lifelong friends who can help and encourage you and you can do the same for them as you walk your writing journey.  I attended this event last year, and cannot wait to attend this Saturday.  If you are anywhere near Lancaster County, I invite you to come and see what this one-day conference has to offer, and if you like, I can meet you face-to-face if you let me know you are coming so we can connect.

LANCASTER CHRISTIAN WRITERS HOSTS ONE-DAY CONFERENCE ON APRIL 11, 2015, AT LANCASTER BIBLE COLLEGE

For a bargain of excellence and price, no writer, whether beginning or advanced, within driving radius will want to miss Lancaster Christian Writers’ Super Saturday 2015!! to be held April 11th, 2015, from 8:30am.-4:30pm at Lancaster Bible College, 901 Eden Road, Lancaster, PA 17601.

This one-day writers conference offers a full slate of workshops taught by top industry professionals in both fiction and non-fiction fields. An early registration price of $50 is due by Wednesday, April 8, and includes soup/sandwich buffet lunch (think Panini!) and LCW membership. Registrations after April 9 and walk-ins day of the conference are $60.

A fiction track will be taught by award-winning novelists Dina Sleiman and Kelly Long along with children’s author Brenda Hendricks. Non-fiction faculty include TV/radio speaker, marketing expert, award-winning author of 19 books Karen Whiting, professional memoir and ghostwriter Shawn Smucker, journalist/social media experts Lisa Bartelt and Alison McLennan.

Keynoting the opening session will be linguist, missionary, and author Grace Fabian. Workshops cover such topics as: 

Market Yourself Now! Learn Tools to Develop Press Kit, Bio, Website, and Other PR Products.

Writing Blockbuster Scenes: How To Keep Readers Flipping Pages and Asking For More.

 Transformed Manuscripts: Repackaging Your Ideas (Sold or Rejected) to Expand Marketability.

 The Unfortunate Truth in Fiction: Addressing Hard Issues Without Pulling Down Your Story.

 A Story To Tell: Surefire Do’s and Don’ts to Write a Gripping True Life Story or Memoir.

 Myers-Briggs for Your Protagonist: Applying Personality Types to Create Characters with Distinctive Qualities, Motivations, and Voices.

 Let’s Ride the Seesaw: Recruiting Your Inner Child to Communicate with Young Readers.

 100% Guaranteed (Oh, Yeah?) Secret to Blogging Success Beyond Your Wildest Dreams!

A conference bookstore will offer a wide variety of writer resources and faculty titles. Conference attendees can get personal consultations with faculty on a first-come, first-serve basis. Lancaster Christian Writers welcomes writers of all churches and denominations, all levels and genres. Monthly meetings offer opportunities for manuscript critique, networking with other writers, workshops and guest authors.